Nice. I'm someone without coding experience.

Since Chat GTP has been around I've made some simple calculation programs with simple GUI interfaces that help me at work and several Arduino/microcontroller devices.

I haven't gotten far into the Claude subscription level model yet, but I did note even the free model was really capable, so I hope to try the subscription soon.

Some Devs scoff or call it all snippets or something, and it's understandable but I don't think very realistic, at least not in the long term, to underestimate what generated code may become for the average person.

It's important to consider even now just how empowering a little code can be to someone who previously had no access to the tool.

Beyond just the code itself, there are also the important factors of personal perspective (what someone knows/notices that many other people may not), and personal creativity to use or combine simple elements of code with other useful ideas (like extending code with tools like arduino for example).

People who never dreamed of coding are going to be coming out with all kinds of useful things.

Having motivaton, a perspective, and an original idea to make something useful can amplify what seems like just some basic code at first glance.

I'm still fighting with the AI to get what I want, and using a long, sometimes frustrating chain of iteraton, but I'm willing to lean into that if I'm determined to make a simple idea work... within reason of course. But it has allowed me to do things that I would never have had time to learn by studying code. Frankly, if left to traditional learning methods for code, it would never happen.

ARDUINO

With Arduino I've made a mix of fun and useful common projects and, the AI also walks me through the electronics part step by step. For me Arduino is like a cheat, because it can extend a simple sketch into something much more.

Common Devices

So, for example, I've made things like an led based candle tea light that just makes me happy and works the way I want it to. It took a little iterating, but obviously would be fairly simple.

Things like that, or an 'always on' weather forecast, or a custom timer for devices, are simple because of the number of examples out there.

Totally Original Devices

Whereas I'm working on a Bluetooth to mechanical pre-amp volume controller for vintage intigrated stereo amplifiers, and it is working, but still janky for now. I absolutely will get it worked out eventually, but it's lots and lots of iterations, and reworkings to get there.

But, my most complex and successful devices don't exist in any similar form, and cost hundreds of Dollars for their comertial peers:

Custom assistive Bluetooth/or HID over USB computer ports with some new features my clients families have been complaining are missing for 20 years from comertial devices.

These are for children in the early years or with complex disabilities for their communication therapy and daily access to computers and adapted toys/devices.

My intigrated devices do things like special timed macros that give access to frequently requests routines, control of all custom activation commands, allow conversion of switches to wireless pods, run off a USB power bank for portability, have an intigrated physical device pass through control for activating adapted devices that is selectable in the onboard menu system.

These are crazy features to implement out of thin air, fully working in just a few months, and with no coding or electronic skills.

Not to mention few comertial devices even have the Bluetooth yet, let alone these other things.

I make various versions and customized ones for just about $12US a peice, and just because I noticed this very specific lag/gap in assistive technology and spent a few months working it out.

So if I did that, just wait and see what millions of others do.

So there is the punchline, yes, people will argue that all that can be done is some simple projects, but this is tangible and functional use of simple code that makes a difference for people and puts pressure on a stagnant industry to do better.

I have no business skills to develop a comertial product, so I'll just be giving them away and training organizations build them. I've already donated a few dozen to families who don't qualify for the funding of a comertial device.

So I encourage everyone who is interested to lean into this.

PYTHON/HTML 5

I've found it harder outside of Arduino to be honest, with more iterating, but have started to make some progress.

I've made calculators that help me at work to do simple monthly stats faster. This was simple and there would be lots of examples.

But I've also made simple visual calculators that many of my colleagues now use just to track their assessment data as they collect it, and auto sum everything with some simple calculations and conditions.

Super basic, but I know it's completely original and follows a visual layout and logic that isn't used anywhere else, so the AI had only my discriptions to thread the code needed together.

Is it simple? Sure it is, but it's also functional and useful and not a copy of something that exists already.

It's silly for anyone (lots of naysayers currently) to assume that even being empowered with just a little code won't lead to lots of new tools and useful things. It's incredibly empowering when more people can create their vision.

We also have to remember, right now is the worst code generaton will ever be. With the new agent based software coming fast, I'm really excited for where this is leading.

I can't wait to get onto a Claude subscription and start playing around with it. Thanks for sharing your experiences with it! Your UI is beautiful and inspires my me to jump back in to work more on the visual design part of the UI.